Prayer

You are all we have; you give us what we need;Our lives are in your hands, O Lord,Our lives are in your hands.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

Origins

Answering the question “where are you from?” is not always a simple task. My husband, who was born in Maryland and moved before he turned one to northeast Ohio, says he’s from Maryland. I was born in Texas, and lived there until I was five – but I answer the question “Indianapolis,” which is where I was raised. There is something about place, roots, history, and identity at play in our responses to this question. Who do we say that we are? Where do we say we are from? Who do we say we are from?

Jesus and some of his brothers and sisters from Jerusalem engage with these same questions today. You know me and also know where I am from, Jesus tells them. They share a place and an identity. And yet, Jesus points us to our true home. I am from God, he says. His words remind me that so, too, are each of us.

Jn 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

March 31, 2017

Jn 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Origins

Answering the question “where are you from?” is not always a simple task. My husband, who was born in Maryland and moved before he turned one to northeast Ohio, says he’s from Maryland. I was born in Texas, and lived there until I was five – but I answer the question “Indianapolis,” which is where I was raised. There is something about place, roots, history, and identity at play in our responses to this question. Who do we say that we are? Where do we say we are from? Who do we say we are from?

Jesus and some of his brothers and sisters from Jerusalem engage with these same questions today. You know me and also know where I am from, Jesus tells them. They share a place and an identity. And yet, Jesus points us to our true home. I am from God, he says. His words remind me that so, too, are each of us.

Prayer

You are all we have; you give us what we need;Our lives are in your hands, O Lord,Our lives are in your hands.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

Prayer

Jesus, I desire to see Your faceand to know You intimately,but I am afraid of what You may say in Your gaze.Help me to look You in the eyes,to see You as You are,to see myself as You see me.May my fear diminish with each passing momentthat I turn to You in trust. Amen.

—Rachel Fitzgibbon

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

His Gaze

As Christians, we have the double gift of the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have the word of God from the days of old, and we have the living Word of God – Jesus. We claim to “believe in the one whom [God] has sent,” so we should have God’s “word remaining in [us],” right?

It’s not so easy, as Jesus points out. Just because we have read the Gospel does not mean we have allowed the Word of God to live in us. For Jesus Himself is the Word, and He is alive, so every time we read the Gospel we should be changed – having encountered the living Christ.

If we aren’t changed, it is because we have not encountered Jesus. We have not looked Him in the eyes and allowed Him to gaze at us with Love. It is a scary thing, to be gazed upon by Love Itself. Perhaps this is what Jesus means when He says, “You do not want to come to me to have life.” We do not want to know what Jesus sees when He looks upon us, and we are scared to know what we may find in the life that God offers. Let us ask Jesus for the grace to desire the life He has in store for us.

Jn 5: 31-47

“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf.

You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

March 30, 2017

Jn 5: 31-47

“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf.

You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

His Gaze

As Christians, we have the double gift of the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have the word of God from the days of old, and we have the living Word of God – Jesus. We claim to “believe in the one whom [God] has sent,” so we should have God’s “word remaining in [us],” right?

It’s not so easy, as Jesus points out. Just because we have read the Gospel does not mean we have allowed the Word of God to live in us. For Jesus Himself is the Word, and He is alive, so every time we read the Gospel we should be changed – having encountered the living Christ.

If we aren’t changed, it is because we have not encountered Jesus. We have not looked Him in the eyes and allowed Him to gaze at us with Love. It is a scary thing, to be gazed upon by Love Itself. Perhaps this is what Jesus means when He says, “You do not want to come to me to have life.” We do not want to know what Jesus sees when He looks upon us, and we are scared to know what we may find in the life that God offers. Let us ask Jesus for the grace to desire the life He has in store for us.

Prayer

Jesus, I desire to see Your faceand to know You intimately,but I am afraid of what You may say in Your gaze.Help me to look You in the eyes,to see You as You are,to see myself as You see me.May my fear diminish with each passing momentthat I turn to You in trust. Amen.

—Rachel Fitzgibbon

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

Prayer

Love consists in sharingwhat one hasand who one iswith those one loves.Love ought to show itself in deedsmore than in words.

—St. Ignatius Loyola

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

With Others

It has been almost a month since the priest rubbed ashes on our foreheads to remind us that we are here to seek God’s will. I felt energized, committed and ready to do as Pope Francis instructed: to recognize others as “gifts” and “to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord”.

However, my initial energy has dulled. A friend showed up at my door needing to talk. I saw his visit as a nuisance. I received an invitation to a party, but the anxiety of adding another task to the calendar led me to decline.

Although it is important to balance our busy lives, will I remember that Christ calls us to be with others? If I see others as gifts, then accepting invitations and being present will draw us together, and to God. But how can I see others as gifts—not in spite of the fact that I am busy, anxious, or distracted, but because I am busy, anxious, and distracted?

St. Ignatius’s First Principle and Foundation says “The goal of our life is to live with God forever. God, who loves us, gave us life. Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into us without limit.” One of the ways in which we respond to the love God has given us is through prayer, not only personal prayer but community prayer as well.
The Pastoral Ministry Center invites members of our Strake Jesuit Community to share their prayers with us: their concerns, joys, thanksgivings, so that we may walk with them in all these times of their lives.

Submit a Prayer Request

Name

FirstLast

Email

Request*

To help us reduce fraudulent submissions, please enter the five digit code into the field below.

Prayer

You are all we have; you give us what we need;Our lives are in your hands, O Lord,Our lives are in your hands.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

Origins

Answering the question “where are you from?” is not always a simple task. My husband, who was born in Maryland and moved before he turned one to northeast Ohio, says he’s from Maryland. I was born in Texas, and lived there until I was five – but I answer the question “Indianapolis,” which is where I was raised. There is something about place, roots, history, and identity at play in our responses to this question. Who do we say that we are? Where do we say we are from? Who do we say we are from?

Jesus and some of his brothers and sisters from Jerusalem engage with these same questions today. You know me and also know where I am from, Jesus tells them. They share a place and an identity. And yet, Jesus points us to our true home. I am from God, he says. His words remind me that so, too, are each of us.

Jn 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

March 31, 2017

Jn 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Origins

Answering the question “where are you from?” is not always a simple task. My husband, who was born in Maryland and moved before he turned one to northeast Ohio, says he’s from Maryland. I was born in Texas, and lived there until I was five – but I answer the question “Indianapolis,” which is where I was raised. There is something about place, roots, history, and identity at play in our responses to this question. Who do we say that we are? Where do we say we are from? Who do we say we are from?

Jesus and some of his brothers and sisters from Jerusalem engage with these same questions today. You know me and also know where I am from, Jesus tells them. They share a place and an identity. And yet, Jesus points us to our true home. I am from God, he says. His words remind me that so, too, are each of us.

Prayer

You are all we have; you give us what we need;Our lives are in your hands, O Lord,Our lives are in your hands.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

Prayer

Jesus, I desire to see Your faceand to know You intimately,but I am afraid of what You may say in Your gaze.Help me to look You in the eyes,to see You as You are,to see myself as You see me.May my fear diminish with each passing momentthat I turn to You in trust. Amen.

—Rachel Fitzgibbon

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

His Gaze

As Christians, we have the double gift of the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have the word of God from the days of old, and we have the living Word of God – Jesus. We claim to “believe in the one whom [God] has sent,” so we should have God’s “word remaining in [us],” right?

It’s not so easy, as Jesus points out. Just because we have read the Gospel does not mean we have allowed the Word of God to live in us. For Jesus Himself is the Word, and He is alive, so every time we read the Gospel we should be changed – having encountered the living Christ.

If we aren’t changed, it is because we have not encountered Jesus. We have not looked Him in the eyes and allowed Him to gaze at us with Love. It is a scary thing, to be gazed upon by Love Itself. Perhaps this is what Jesus means when He says, “You do not want to come to me to have life.” We do not want to know what Jesus sees when He looks upon us, and we are scared to know what we may find in the life that God offers. Let us ask Jesus for the grace to desire the life He has in store for us.

Jn 5: 31-47

“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf.

You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

March 30, 2017

Jn 5: 31-47

“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf.

You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

His Gaze

As Christians, we have the double gift of the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have the word of God from the days of old, and we have the living Word of God – Jesus. We claim to “believe in the one whom [God] has sent,” so we should have God’s “word remaining in [us],” right?

It’s not so easy, as Jesus points out. Just because we have read the Gospel does not mean we have allowed the Word of God to live in us. For Jesus Himself is the Word, and He is alive, so every time we read the Gospel we should be changed – having encountered the living Christ.

If we aren’t changed, it is because we have not encountered Jesus. We have not looked Him in the eyes and allowed Him to gaze at us with Love. It is a scary thing, to be gazed upon by Love Itself. Perhaps this is what Jesus means when He says, “You do not want to come to me to have life.” We do not want to know what Jesus sees when He looks upon us, and we are scared to know what we may find in the life that God offers. Let us ask Jesus for the grace to desire the life He has in store for us.

Prayer

Jesus, I desire to see Your faceand to know You intimately,but I am afraid of what You may say in Your gaze.Help me to look You in the eyes,to see You as You are,to see myself as You see me.May my fear diminish with each passing momentthat I turn to You in trust. Amen.

—Rachel Fitzgibbon

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

Prayer

Love consists in sharingwhat one hasand who one iswith those one loves.Love ought to show itself in deedsmore than in words.

—St. Ignatius Loyola

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

With Others

It has been almost a month since the priest rubbed ashes on our foreheads to remind us that we are here to seek God’s will. I felt energized, committed and ready to do as Pope Francis instructed: to recognize others as “gifts” and “to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord”.

However, my initial energy has dulled. A friend showed up at my door needing to talk. I saw his visit as a nuisance. I received an invitation to a party, but the anxiety of adding another task to the calendar led me to decline.

Although it is important to balance our busy lives, will I remember that Christ calls us to be with others? If I see others as gifts, then accepting invitations and being present will draw us together, and to God. But how can I see others as gifts—not in spite of the fact that I am busy, anxious, or distracted, but because I am busy, anxious, and distracted?